The Journey Newsletter

Used to mark single posts for inclusion in the newsletter function of our blog.

Rest That Produces Life

The man who is perpetually in motion is a man who is afraid of what might be said in the silence of stillness. There is something that happens when we set aside time to be still.  We see this in scripture with “Be still and know that I am God” and “It is courageous to wait…”, as well as the Sabbath law of the Old Testament and the Sabbath rest of Hebrews. For most of my life I have been…

Prayer is Simple

Prayer is simple. Prayer is humanity having a conversation with God—a back and forth where one talks, the Other listens, and then One talks and the other listens. The complexity comes in on our part, never on God’s part. God is perfect, His motives are pure, and His timing is extraordinary. His hearing is perfect, His words are clear, and the tone of His voice reflects what is in His heart. There is no maneuvering or manipulating on God’s end.…

Authentic Prayer

Prayer, like anything else in church life, can become religious. And useless. And boring. And possibly sinful procrastination. In fact, repetitious prayer can replace authentic conversation with God and actually hinder our spiritual lives, opposing the very life of CHirst within us. Authentic conversation? The first definition in my dictionary for ‘authentic’ is: Not false or copied; genuine; real. Jesus preferred the wrong but authentic response of James and John when they asked Him if He wanted them to call…

God asks…

If God asks something from us, I wonder if it is because He created us to be that way, operate best that way? God asks us to confess our sins one to another.  Were we made for confession? God asks us to repent, to think again.  Were we made to change our minds and line them up with His ways? God asks us to forgive, to not judge.  Did He never intend us to judge?  Not even judge ourselves? God…

Sticky People

We as humans are designed to stick to people and most especially to God. Our souls are constructed that way. To have stickability, loyalty, faithfulness, fidelity and such. As an infant we feel a part of our mother since we are in fact one with here and we go throughout our childhood becoming less and less glued to her. We create new bonds with siblings, relatives, friends, teachers, and coaches. All of which require various levels of stickiness commitment. Some…

The Process of Fear

Did you know that there is a ‘process’ of fear? There is a series of steps that Elijah takes when Queen Jezebel threatens to kill him. These are not the only steps in the process nor the only process but they are certainly worth noting and seeing where you are with your fear… 1. Fear enters in when we LISTEN to anything other than what God says. Elijah HEARS the message from Jezebel and SEES his future in the worst…

A Messiah for All

Many of us assume that God only wants to help and save only those who already belong to Him. 2,000 years ago religious Jews had this same opinion. In fact, they regularly ignored scriptures like Isaiah 49:6… “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation…

God is Good?

God is good? What exactly does that mean? God is perfect. He is without blemish, without defect, and He has no flaws. This means He is the best example of how to feel, think, love, and live. With God there is no contradiction. God is always consistent with Himself and His actions are always consistent with His character. Because of this we can trust God. God possesses every perfect quality in perfect ways. In a way, God is the perfect…

How to Talk About Politics

Here are some good guidelines for Christ-followers to follow when it comes to talking about the debates, politics, or just about anything that is controversial. 1. Choose your words carefully. The words you use indicate what is in your heart and almost everyone will judge you on what you say, not on what your intent was. Jesus constantly geared His words to those who were on the ‘outside’ and in doing so greatly aggravated those on the ‘inside’. 2. Agree…